I heard the Ambulance guy asking for help with the looters (he's worried about his own people being shot) and yet right after him someone got on and explained the three tiers and how this only merited the National Guard, not the Army. I think in this case we have to toss the rule book.
I've talked about the incompetence surrounding this tragedy which is going to be a force multiplier in that many who are alive now may not make it because these morons waited a) too long to evacuate the city before the event; b) didn't move fast enough after the event; c) aren't properly trained, d) the list goes on.
One more story I heard this morning from a 'Citizen Journalist' was that she was talking to the Mayor who told her (she's a health worker, I believe) that he was releasing the prisoners and she should get out of there because looting would begin with these prisoners on the loose. Better he had left them free but locked inside the jail to fend for themselves than to be out, now armed with guns and whatever, free to attack the rescuers, citizens and anyone else. This was a piece of utter insanity. Better to have executed them all and taken the heat. I would have. The bad guys? You bet. Rather than let them loose on the population now, of all times.
Utter incompetence!
What about the morons who chose to ignore the evacuation orders? I know, I know, many were not capable of leaving on their own, but just as many were...
Nuts. Why don't they ship them someplace else?
The rule book is full of room for judgement. IOW, it's not the rules that are the problem, it's human fallability.